Calculus vs. MCAT

[JLeBling]

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Hello fellows SDers,

I know that calculus is not required for the MCAT. My question is, would a conceptual understanding of some fundamental Calculi help me in the PS section?

I took Calculus I and II in my first year about four years ago and I did not perform very well (B, C+ ish).

Less than 6 months ago I was mathematically ******ed. So I decided I needed to do something about it and bought this DVD course on mental arithmetic. Now I practice mental arithmetic every morning and numbers no longer look like Swahili to me anymore.

It also came with a DVD on calculus.

Considering that I am planning to write the MCAT in 4 months, would it be worth my time to gain a better understanding of Calculus in the hopes that it could possibly give me an edge on the Physical Science section in recognizing and solving math-based problems?

Whachta think???

-Justin

 

[drspacheman]

I don't really think a strong understanding of Calculus will help much, but general concepts might help a bit with a few questions. And I mean like really general concepts, like the area underneath a curve is the integral, and a the slope at an instantaneous point is a derivative.

I personally would not go through a dvd on calculus to prepare for the mcat because it would just be a lot of really specific information that you won't need, and won't really help. I think it's great that you went through and improved your algebra because that would really help develop the habit of solving questions with a bit of math very quickly 👍

 

[zipnogg]

Calculus is needed as a basis for applications in physics (just speaking in terms of the MCAT here).

As long as you understand how to handle physics, you don't need to go over calculus.

 

[cuculici1]

Hello fellows SDers,

I know that calculus is not required for the MCAT. My question is, would a conceptual understanding of some fundamental Calculi help me in the PS section?

I took Calculus I and II in my first year about four years ago and I did not perform very well (B, C+ ish).

Less than 6 months ago I was mathematically ******ed. So I decided I needed to do something about it and bought this DVD course on mental arithmetic. Now I practice mental arithmetic every morning and numbers no longer look like Swahili to me anymore.

It also came with a DVD on calculus.

Considering that I am planning to write the MCAT in 4 months, would it be worth my time to gain a better understanding of Calculus in the hopes that it could possibly give me an edge on the Physical Science section in recognizing and solving math-based problems?

Whachta think???

-Justin

The only calculus you may need to know is how to interpret speed, velocity, and acceleration graphs by integrating them or finding the derivative. You actually don't even need to know calculus to do this, but it comes in handy and you can use it to check your intuition when picking answers to these questions.

 

[JLeBling]

you guys are right... There are plenty of math shortcuts that would be way more beneficial to learn and master than calculus!

thanks